US midterms So apparently Dubya "got his ass kicked" at the midterm elections - as did many other Republicans
What will this mean for the USA and its wider policy though? I'm not sure exactly how the US political system works either as although in the UK we have local council elections more regularly than general elections a "midterm" would be equivalent to making everyone vote again for their MP (but keeping Tony Blair)..
Interested to hear from our American users as well what their views are on this....
Emma Maersk – what do you think? The Emma Maersk, currently the biggest container ship in the world , arrived at Felixstowe this weekend to offload around 3,000 ISO containers from a total loading of 13,000...
it is probably now somewhere in mainland Europe, offloading the rest of the containers to other countries..
Whilst the ship itself comes from Denmark and must have generated a lot of work for the shipyard, there is only a crew of 13 on board this ship...
The containers represent most of Europes Christmas shopping - but - virtually all the cargo is from China!
When the holiday period is over; the containers get filled up with much of the contents of Europes recycling bins; and then go back to China as the Chinese want the material to recycle for the next batch of goods!
Many greens are concerned about the effects of globalisation here - when so much stuff is made in China (perhaps not under the best conditions for workers) but at the same time the Chinese have won the fight within the market for peoples business by creating lower cost products at acceptable quality..
I actually try to buy local stuff when I can but with high tech kit its becoming impossible - even Celestion speakers are made in China now..
what do you all think about this?
warmest long summer for 347 years, at least! On the Met Office website there is a press release which states that May to Semptember 2006 is the warmest May to September on record. This includes July, which was the hottest month on record!
This is based on the Central England temperature record, which goes back to 1659, and is the longest instrumental temperature record in the world.:cry:
Anybody wanna try and cheer me up? I'm scared...:hopeless:
A nation of suspects ?
A Nation Of Suspects?
Do you think your details should be stored on the national DNA database? That is the question being put to the public.
A consultation has been launched on whether laws allowing police to take, store and analyse DNA from suspects, witnesses and victims should be revised.
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics says that in England and Wales, police have powers, "unrivalled internationally", to take DNA from an arrested person without consent.
His or her DNA profile is stored on the National DNA Database indefinitely, irrespective of whether or not charges are brought.
"We want to hear the public's views on whether storing the DNA profiles of victims and suspects who are later not charged, or acquitted, is justified by the need to fight crime," said Professor Bob Hepple QC, chairman of the Council.
The Council will examine whether it would be fairer to include everyone on the database, a process that Prof Hepple said would take a couple of generations to complete and involve enormous costs.
He said this raised the issue of whether people wanted "to become instead of a nation of citizens, a nation of suspects?"
The UK's National DNA Database was set up in 1995 and is the largest per capita in the world, with profiles of more than three million people.
In Scotland, those who are not charged, or are acquitted, may have their samples removed.
Meanwhile, The Guardian claims that millions of personal medical records are to be uploaded to a central database, regardless of patients' wishes.
It says that details of mental illnesses, abortions, pregnancy, HIV status, drug-taking or alcoholism may also be included, while there are no laws to prevent DNA details from being added.
A Guardian inquiry found a lack of safeguards against access to the records once they have been uploaded.
The move is part of the Government's plans to computerise the entire health service.
Should we all have our data in a national DNA bank ?
Why ?
Why not ?
Michael J. Fox Anti Republican Ad [yt]a9WB_PXjTBo[/yt]
New McCaskill for Missouri TV ad featuring actor Michael J. Fox talking about Claire McCaskill and stem cell research.
Go to www.ClaireOnline.com to find out more. ... (more)
Baghdad: A doctor’s story This is important viewing, it's quite difficult to watch in places though...
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Baghdad%3A+A+doctor%27s+story&search=Search
where does all the space on the roads go? something to think about when you see the traffic jams in the morning
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk/web/public.nsf/Documents/Highway_Robbery?OpenDocument
(of course with ravers at the weekend its different as vehicles are often crammed full either of people or rigs :laugh_at:)
this is just to much
Dutch paedophile party in trouble
A Dutch political party formed by a group of paedophiles is unlikely to take part in the country's November elections due to a lack of support.
The Brotherly Love, Freedom and Diversity Party (PNVD) said it had only gathered 100 of the 570 signatures needed by the 10 October deadline.
It believes would-be supporters are afraid to publicly give their backing.
The party seeks to lower the age of sexual consent to 12, and legalise child pornography and sex with animals.
The PNVD was formed by three paedophiles in May, prompting outrage in Dutch society.
Breaking taboos
Party chairman Martijn Uittenbogaard said people were afraid of the consequences of showing their support.
"People will publish the names and addresses of anybody who signs on the internet, and hand out flyers in their neighbourhood," he told the Associated Press.
PNVD secretary Norbert de Jonge told the Reuters news agency: "They are afraid that their windows will be smashed, just as happened yesterday to our chairman."
The group would need around 60,000 votes to win just one seat in parliament, and pollsters have estimated that the party would have barely gained 1,000 votes in the national election.
In July, a Dutch court ruled that the party had a right to exist, after children's right activists sought to ban it.
The PNVD says its aim is to break taboos and fight intolerance, and that paedophilia should be freely discussed, arguing that a ban just makes children curious.
They say the subject has been a taboo since the 1996 Marc Dutroux child abuse scandal in Belgium. The party also wants children from the age of 12 to be able to vote. It promotes the legalisation of hard and soft drugs, and free train travel for all.
I'm sorry for this post if there actually is somebody here who think this is normal and a good idea..:you_crazy :you_crazy :you_crazy
This is the most terrible thing i have read in many
years..It just makes me sick:you_crazy :you_crazy :you_crazy and them who
voted for them must be just as sick:yakk: :yakk: :yakk:
security guards emplyed to protect cops :laugh_at:
Security guards protect police HQ
The Surrey police force has been branded as "crazy" for hiring security guards to protect its headquarters.
Four guards are based at its Mount Browne HQ in Guildford where about 900 constabulary employees work, including the Chief Constable, Robert Quick.
Councillor and ex-member of the Surrey Police Authority, Terry Dicks, said it was "absolutely crackers" for security guards to guard policemen at work.
The police authority said it was following official security guidelines.
A spokeswoman said the guards were being employed to "enable officers not to be distracted from their general policing duties" in line with guidance issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers.
"The guards are being employed to ensure the safety of visitors to Mount Browne as well as that of officers and staff," she added.
The police force believes the strategy will free up more officers to serve the public.
But Tory councillor Mr Dicks said it was a sign of the "stupidity" of the Chief Constable and the members of the police authority who supported him.
"Can't they [the police] protect themselves? It's crazy.
"This tells us all we need to know about how Surrey Police is run," he said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/6072886.stm
Suicide helper walkes free
David and Gillian March
Suicide Helper Walks Free
Updated: 12:32, Thursday October 19, 2006
A man who helped his sick wife to commit suicide has walked free from court with a nine-month suspended prison sentence.
David March, 57, had pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to aiding and abetting the suicide of Gillian, who had multiple sclerosis.
The court heard that Mrs March, 59, of Caterham, Surrey, had tried to kill herself on a number of occasions because of her health.
The court was told that he returned home to find Mrs March in a wheelchair, having taken Valium and with a plastic bag over her head.
He admitted to police that he tightened a string around the bag and she died half an hour after he arrived.
Passing sentence at the Old Bailey, Judge Brian Barker told March: "You were a husband who not only had a deep love for his wife but who displayed a selfless devotion to her.
"Society may understand your acts but cannot condone them."
Outside court, March said: "I just want to be left alone to get on with my life."
He had originally been charged with murder but his plea to the lesser offence was accepted after a pathologist said it was not certain that Mrs March would have survived if he had not tightened the string.
The sentence was welcomed by the pressure group Dignity In Dying.
But the British Council of Disabled People said: "What kind of message is this sending out to society where it is perceived to be easier to kill a disabled person rather than support them to live with dignity?"
Should he go free ??
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